411 Interviews: Silas Young of AAW, DGUSA, and Evolve

Silas Young is the Heavyweight champion of the Chicago independent promotion, AAW: Pro Wrestling Redefined. AAW will be having their second iPPV taping on October 28th, which will be available on GoFightLive.TV (a week later so there is no live technical difficulties), and Young will be defending his championship against Rhyno. The iPPV will feature guest stars such as Scott Steiner, The Honky Tonk Man, Greg Valentine, and “M-Dogg” Matt Cross. Young is also competing in such independent companies like Dragon Gate USA and Evolve Wrestling. He has previously worked for Ring of Honor and had TV matches in the WWE.

TJ Hawke: You have been the AAW Champion for the majority of the last two years after you dethroned Jimmy Jacobs in September of 2009. What has it been like to be main eventing this promotion on almost every show in that time?

Silas Young: It’s always been a blast working for AAW; they have the best independent product in the Midwest easily. It’s always a fun challenge doing the main events because like I said they have a lot of good guys working the shows and it always makes you wanna step up your game. But at the same time I don’t really wrestle your typical Indy style, so I’m different which definitely helps.

TJ: On October 28th, AAW will be having their second live iPPV, War is Coming. You will be defending the AAW Title against former WWE, TNA, and ECW star, Rhyno. How do you feel about this matchup? How did your match with him go at Day of Defiance 2011?

SY: Getting in the ring with Rhino again will be great; he’s an athlete and a really good wrestler. He works hard at his craft, it should be a great match.

Here are the promos that Young and Rhyno cut to hype the iPPV main event:

TJ: In the last few years, you have had a number of tryouts with the WWE. I believe you have had some televised matches with Luke Gallows and The Miz. What have those experiences like?

SY: Getting to do anything for the WWE was always a good experience; you get a decent amount of money and you get to eat catered food. Then if you get to wrestle it’s always a plus. It was cool working the shows; I’ve never got to wrestle in front of ten or twenty thousand people before, so it’s an awesome experience.

TJ: You had a ton of matches in Ring of Honor from 2007 to 2009, including wrestling on PPV and the HDnet show. What were those experiences like? Did you ever get frustrated with getting a number of bookings, but never receiving a push of any significance?

SY: My experience with ROH was good to start. When Gabe [Sapolsky] was booking, he seemed to like me and was doing some fun stuff with me and giving me some good matches and put me over a few times. Then things just slowed down, it was cool doing the shows; the locker room is full of guys who live wrestling and work their asses off and are cool people on top of that.

Watch Silas Young vs. Austin Aries from Ring of Honor

TJ: You have been getting a lot of exposure in the last year from Gabe Sapolsky’s two promotions, Dragon Gate USA and Evolve Wrestling. A year ago, you started working DGUSA dark matches and now you are working on live iPPV for them. How do you think working for DGUSA and Evolve has improved you as a performer? Is there a match or moment that you are most proud of from working in these promotions?

SY: Dragon gate and Evolve are fun. I’ll be honest, I like to travel. If I can go wrestle for an awesome company like Dragon Gate or Evolve, have a good match and get to hang out in New York City for the day and night: that’s awesome. I’m super appreciative of all the little perks of wrestling. My last match with Brodie Lee in Milwaukee for Dragon Gate; I thought that match was awesome. I busted out some shit I don’t ever do,and Brodie said it was his first singles match back from dislocating his ankle, and everything was smooth. It’s one of those crowds/companys/products that just makes you wanna step it up.

TJ: On your Evolve Wrestling profile page, you say that the hardest thing you have to deal with was “heroin addiction.” I have had three cousins who have suffered through this as well, and I know how hard it is to overcome. When did you go through this and how did you get clean? You have brought up your addiction in an Evolve storyline, where you blame Johnny Gargano for making you fall off the wagon. How do you feel about bringing up something so personal in a wrestling storyline?

SY: Ya know a lot of people think that heroin addiction would be a touchy subject which is why I chose to share that part of me. I was young and stupid as fuck (obviously) but I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Wrestling is honestly what got me to get clean then start working out then wrestling training and then getting booked on every single show I could. I got to meet my wife along the way. Maybe if I wouldn’t have become a heroin addict maybe I wouldn’t be where I’m at now in life and I’m pretty happy with what I got.

TJ: For this section of the interview Silas, I was hoping you give the readers some thoughts on some of your recent prominent matches in AAW:

AAW Defining Moment: Us vs. Them: Silas Young vs. Bryan Danielson:

SY: A lot of people ask me about wrestling Bryan Danielson, and apparently it was a top selling DVD for a few months. At the risk of sounding like a douche, it was pretty electric in the Eagles Club that night; the crowd really ate everything up and it’s always pretty special to be part of something like that.

AAW Reign of Violence: Silas Young vs. Tyler Black:

SY: I got to wrestle Tyler Black a few times and they were always good matches. He’s one of those guys you get in the ring with and don’t have to worry about a thing; he’s a guy who ACTUALLY lives wrestling, not just says he does.

AAW Path of Redemption: Silas Young vs. Raven in a Cage Match and AAW Epic: Silas Young vs. Stevie Richards:

SY: Raven and Stevie Richards were guys I was really excited to get to work with.

AAW Defining Moment: Silas Young vs. Colt Cabana:

SY: The funny thing about working Cabana is that the first few times we worked together years back, the matches sucked. It was like oil and water: no mix. Now a few years later, the matches have gotten a lot better and Cabana is the man. He’s got so much charisma it’s sickening. Our last match was a lot of fun and Val Malone enjoyed it a lot as well, as she’s known Cabana since she was like 13 or 14 years old.

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